EDUCATION.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIII, Issue 128, 17 May 1923, Page 3

EDUCATION.

EXPENDITURE AND PROGRESS. Wellington, May 16. The Hon. O. J. Parr. Minister of Education, in an address to the New Zealand Educational Institute, put some pointed questions to the conference. Mr. Parr said educational expenditure had increased 150 per cent since 1913, and now totalled about £3,300,000 per annum. Of this sum over £2,000,000 went out in salaries and wages to the teachers, inspectors, am! officials. The sum was large, but he thought not too large at all. Critics, however, frequently asked him whether the taxpayer was getting value for his money. Addressing our teachers. Mr. Parr asked: “Are our primary schools efficient. Is the teaching sound? Is the product of tp-day a® satisfactory as the product of 20 or 30 years ago? The answer.” said the Minister, “is that on the whole we have made progress. 1 believe the pupil as evolved from the primary school to-day is more intelligent, n ore resourceful and more self-reliant than the pupil of 30 years ago ; but there are some undoubted weaknesses, to which 1 would call your attention. A .'retie self-examination will do us ail goed,” he added, “and 1 am bound to say that I am not satisfied with what is being done in some subjects,” The Minister said answering his own question, that he thought sound progress had been made and that the teaching on the whole was satisfactory. There were, however, blemishes, and it was his and their duty to get together and imnrove the weak spots. He asked for the coming year that a special effort might be made, first for more mechanical accuracy in arithmetic. secondly for more thorough instruction. and thirdly, he hoped to place before the institute proposals for the improvement of singing, which was not satisfactory in the majority of schools.